Former cricketer Sourav Ganguly has been unanimously elected the new President of the BCCI. Union Home Minister Amit Shah's son Jay Shah is the new secretary. Arun Dhumal, who is the younger brother of Minister of State for Finance and former BCCI president Anurag Thakur, is the new treasurer.
The news has come as a shocker. Ganguly was believed to stay away from BCCI in order to be available for campaigning for the BJP ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections in West Bengal. Says Ghose Spot, The euphoria around Ganguly's ascension is proof of his popularity as well as of the overwhelming desire of Indian cricket fans to get the BCCI out of the clutches of politicians and businessmen.
However, BCCI is not out of the clutches of politicians. Says Rajdeep Sardesai, The biggest farce in recent times (among many such jokes) has been the BCCI 'reforms'. Sons/kin of BJP leaders/politicians, BCCI's 'old guard' are all back. So what was the Lodha panel all about?
The Congress party is expected to highlight the issue of Amit Shah's son coming to hold a key position. The All India Mahila Congress tweets out, Modi said India voted to shed the baggage of the dynasty and we believe in Competency over Dynasty. Months later Jay Shah, son of Home Minister Amit Shah gets a plum post in BCCI, when he is not even remotely linked to cricket. Modi hai to Mumkin hai.